Stapling-machine.



v2o y otherwise injuring the material being opnarran srarns rainia'ronirica. y

ARTHUR I-I. MAYNARD, vOF WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNQRv TO BOSTON WIRESTITCHER COMPANY, 0F PORTLAND, MAINE, A 'CORPORATION OF MAINE,

STAPLING-MACHINE.

To ZZ whom it may concern.' y

Be it known` that I, ARTHUR H. MAYNARD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at lVarwick, in the county ofKent, State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful'Improvements in Stapling- Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in wire-stitching orstapling-machines for applying staples or like fastening-devices tovarious articles t0 secure them together or to attach labels or tagsthereto.

vMy improvement consists particularly of an auxiliary forming-means 0i'anvil adapt ed to coperate'with the usual clencliermechanism of themachineA in bending and clenching the legs of the staples in place Theobject-of my improvement is to pre-- vent the' staples from tearing,abrading o'r erated upon, and further to give a neater and more inishedappearance tothe work.

My new device is intended for use more particularly on machines forstapling tags onto textile goods or for securing together such articlesas hosiery and underwear.

Theinvention is fully described in the following specication,illustrated by the accompanyingdrawings, in which like referencecharacters designate likefparts,

In the drawingsgiFigure 1 is a front elevation 0f theclenching-mechanism of a usual tvpe of stapling-machine showing myimprovement applied thereto and illustrating the parts in position atthe commence? ment of the operation of bending and clenching the legs ofthe staple; Fig. 2, a similar view showing the mechanism at thecompletion of the operation of clenching the staple; Fig; 3, a vertical,sectional view of the work-support and clencher-plate taken on the lineX-X of Fig. l, and showing my improved vforming-anvil applied thereto;Fig. l, a detail view in perspective of the forming-anvil; Figzv, a planview of the same showing its relation to the clenclierplate; Fig. 6, aView showing the manner in which the staple is clenched through thematerial to secure a tag thereto; and Fig. 7,

` a similar view, in section, showing a slightly dierent method ofbending` and clenching the legs of the staple'.

Referring first to Figs. and 2, the staplingmecla'nism here illustratedis of a Specification of Letters Patent.

llatented Jan. 25, 11916.

Application filed June 30v 1915. Serial No. 37,183.

well-known type common to various styles of machines of the classspecified, such, for instance. as that shown in United States Patent No. 850,290, granted to T. A. Briggs,-

Aprill, 1907. It comprises essentiallythe `main head or bonnet B,`inwhich is slidably mounted a driver .D for driving the staple S downthrough the material to be stapled, and a clencher-plate C arrangedbeiow to adapt it to serve as a support for the work placed underneaththe'head. The driver D slides in a slot Z) vin the head B, or in aslotted face-plate attached to the front of vthe head, and is operatedfrom any suitable means such as a bell-crank-lever as illustrated in thepatent above referred to, but not here shown or described. l/Vith thistype of machine the staples are delivered vtothe machine from a magazineor stick on which they have previously been assembled, but in someinstances the staples are formed automaticallv in the machine from asupply of wire fed thereto.

In Order to avoid unnecessary description in the present specification Ihave here shown' my improvement as applied to a for the material beingoperatedl upon, and

in other cases, where the stapling is to be done on hosiery orunderwear, convex forms are employed for holding the work. As theseparts are not essential to the operation of the present improvement,they have y been omitted from the present drawings for the sake ofclearness.

Riveted to the front of the plate C is a clencher guide-plate C which iscut away loi` slotted at c, c to form horizontal cam;l

faces c2, c2 disposed'on opposite sides of the staple-receiving throatc. Referring to Fig. 3, the clencher-plate C is supported on an arm F,which projects from the main frame of the machine, not here shown, andis secured in position by the screw f and dowelvpins f', see also Figs.1 and 2. Projecting from its front face vare two headed-studs f2, f2which serve as pivots for the clencherarms E, E mounted thereon by meansof their slots e, e. These arms have laterally! extending projectionse', e which engage recesses g, g of a slide G. The slide Gr is adaptedto be reciprocated vertically in relation to the plate C and slides onheaded studs gf, only one of which is here shpwn, which engage suitableslots g2. 'The slide G is reciprocated from a going part of the machinewhich may be operated through a treadle or from any other convenientsource of power.

At their upper ends the arms E, E are recessed or cut away on their rearfaces, as illustrated by the dotted lines e2, e2, and carry'rearwardlyprojecting studs or pintles e3, e3. Pivotally mounted on the studs 63,e3 are the rocka'ble and slida'ble clenchers H, H held in position inthe slotted portions of the clencher guide-plate C. The clenchers H, Hare formed with tail-like extensions h, h which engage the cam-faces 02,cl on the clencher-guide C to rock them about their pivots when the armsE, E are moved together. The arms E, E are oscillated from the upwardmovement of the slide G and thereby the ends h, h of theclenchers H, Hare caused to engage the legs s, s ofthe staple S, after the latter hasbeen driven down throu'f'gh the work W by the driver D, to bend the legsinwardly or toward each other and clenchl them together.

All of the elements described above are of substantially the sameconstruction and arrangement as usually employed in machines of thistype, and my improvement is applied to use in connection with thiswell-known mechanism'as follows: As before stated, my new deviceconsists essentially of an auxiliary forming-anvil which cooperates withthe clenchers H, H to bend the legs of the staple into place. "Heretofore it has been the' practice to clench the legs of the staple into thematerial without employing any means for holding them at the pointsWhere they are bent. That is to say, the stock or material through whichthe staple is inserted is depended upon to hold the legs of the stapleapart while their -ends are being bent over to be clenched into place.Vith such materials as cardboard, strawboard or stiff paper,1 thestiffness of the stock is generally sufficient to thus hold the legs ofthe stapler'in place while they are being bent over, bt1t`in stap- 4lingtextiles, Iit has been found that the material is not rigid enough toresist the-v pressure on the staples and therefore the material isliable to be torn, abraded, and pulled out of shape or otherwisedamaged. In my present improvement I Aprovide against this contingencyby employing. a

bending and forming-anvil A adapted to abut the legs of the staple where4they project from beneath the material and around which the 'ends ofthe legs may be bent during the clenching operation.- This forming-anvilA may be of any suitable construction and arrangement as best adaptedto' the mechanism of the machine to which it is to be applied, thepresent showing being the preferred embodiment of the device.'

Referring to- Fig. 4, I have here preferred to illustrate the anvil A asconstructed in the form of a relatively thin plate, bent rearwardly atits top and then curled over in the hook portion a, which is formed withtwoforwardly projecting lingers or prongs a', ai. Referring to Fig. 3,the main or body portion a2 of the anvil isof a width to adapt it to iitsnugly into a. vertical slot or *recess c4 formed on the back of theclencher-plate C, and the screw which holds the latter in place alsopasses through a hole a3 in the anvil. In .this manner the anvil A issecured firmly in place against the arm'F on which the plate C issupported, with the forwardly extending prpngs at', a projecting acrossthe upper edge of the clencher-plate. ring to Figs, land 2, it will beobserved that the prongs a', a are seated in the recessed throat c o-fthe plate C so that their upper faces come flush with the top of theplate. In this way they are prevented from obstructing the work W whilethe latter is supported .on and passed across the edge of the plate C.Referring to Figs. 3 and 4L,

Referthe` shoulders a4, a4 at the sides of the prongsv a', a abut therear face of the plate C at its upper edge and help to support the anvilin position.

The purpose of the hook or goose-neck a at the top of the anvil A is toprovidefor a slight yielding action or resilient 4Inovement of theoperative part vof theanvil. That is to say, this construction adapts'the prongs a', cz to spring upwardly when acted upon by the clenchersH, H so that they will assume 'their proper vrelation during theclen'ching operation. AThis prevents danger of the prongs being brokenoff or bent out of place through improper adjustment of the clenchers inrelation thereto orv from' variations in the thickness `of the wire of vthe staple being operated upon. In addition, the yielding nature of theprongsallows for greater freedom in the release of that the upper facesof the prongs a', a are beveled off at a?, a5 along their outer edges,A

while the under faces of the prongs are ,bev

the clenched staple as the Work is drawn j "out of the machine.v It isalso to be noted l the prongs a, al.

happen to strike against the projections a', a, the beveled edgesthereof will act to force the legs apart to allow them to slide downpast the prongs. That is to say, in driving the staples down through thework, should their `legs accidentally come into contact with the prongsa', a', the latter will. spread them 'apart so that they can' pass bythe anvil without obstruction. The purpose of the bevels a, a6 on theunder sides of the prongs a, a is to provide for bending or forming thelegs of the staple S with hook-like ends s', s as illustrated in Fig. 2.It will be observed from this view of the drawings that the ends vof theclenchers H, H are formed with. angular faces h2, h2, which are broughtinto position opposite the bevels a6, a6 when the clenchers cometogether, so that the legs of the staplev S will be b ent upwardly attheir ends to form the hooks s, s which are adapted to be clenched intothe material WV,

see Figs. 6 and '7 The method of operation of the completeclenching-mechanism, with my improvement applied to use in connectiontherewith, is as follows: Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, 10 and w representtwo thicknesses of material, such, forv instance, as the tops of a pairof hose, and t is a tag to be attached thereto. As the machine starts tooperate the head or bonnet B is first brought down into position againstthe work W to hold the material .in place similarvto the action of apressure-foot. The driver D is then carried down in its guideway b, toforce the staple S, previously fed thereto through the work W with itslegs s, s projecting downwardly therefrom into the throat c of theclencherplate C. During this operation, if the legs of the staple arenot properly formed ory should they have been accidentally bent togetheror distorted, the beveled edges of the prongs a', a on the anvil A actas guides to spread them apart in proper relation. Theclenching-mechanism next comes into operation to bend over and clenchthe legs of the staple into position. as follows: Referring to Fig. 1,as the slide Gr starts to move upwardly it rocks the arms E, E togetherand this brings the ends of the clenchers H, H against the legs of the,staple S to bend the latter toward each other. During this operation thesides of the prongs a, a on the anvil A act to hold the legs of thestaple apart at the points where they are being bent, and in this wayprevent them from cutting through or tearing the material w, w', or thetag t. As the clenchers H, continue their rocking motion,

their sidev edges are' brought together, as

vshown in Fig.A 2, and meanwhile their ends are carried upwardly topress the legs s, s of the staple S against the under sides of Finallythe inclined faces h2, k2 on the yclenchers bend the eX- tremities ofthe legs s, s against the beveled faces a6, a of the prongs to form thehooked ends s, s. During the stapling operation, the material w, -w iscompressed or flattened out somewhat by the pressure of the head orbonnet B. Now, when the bonnet B is raised from the work, the latter canbe pulled forward to draw the staple out through the throat c ofthe-plate C, and the ends of the staple will slide olf from the prongsof the anvil A. Immediately the staple S is thus released from the anvilA, the inherent elasticity of the material w, w, or other stock beingoperated upon, vwill cause it to'assume its original thickness and thehooked ends s, s will be drawn up into the work\to grip the latter andeffect a most secure fastening. Furthermore, the ends of the staplebeing thus buried or` hooked into the material prevents them fromcatching in other articles and from pricking or scratching the lingersduring handling, besides giving a more lfinished appearance to the work.

In Fig. 7, I have illustrated a slightly dif ferent method of clenching`the staple S through the material consisting in bending the ends of thelegs s, s outwardly instead of inwardly or toward each other. IVith thismethod the forming-anvil A is of substan'v tially the vsame arrangementexcept that its prongs are positioned farther apart and are beveled atthe top on their inside edges and at the bottom on their outer edges.

It will be seen that with my improvement as above described the staplescan be driven through the work and their legs clenched in place withoutdanger of tearing or cutting the material. This is especially important'in applying tags to textile articles since it prevents tearing therelatively thin paste board or paper. and therefore avoids an unsightlyappearance or the liability of the tag becoming detached. Moreover withmyim- 'proved device the bending and clenching of the le'gs of thestaple can be accomplished without danger of tearing or otherwisedamaging the material of the articles being operated upon, and inaddition a much neater appearance is given to the work.

Various modifications might be made in the form and construction of theparts of my improved device without departing from the spirit or scopeof the invention. Y

Therefore, without limiting myself to the exact embodiment shown anddescribed, what-I claim is 1. In a staplinglmachine, the combinationwith means fory driving the staple through the work, of clencher-meansfor bending over the legs ofthe staple, and an auxiliary forming-anvilhaving prongs around which the ends of the legs of the staple are bentby the action of the clencher-means.

2. In a stapling-machine, the combination with the staple drivingand-clenching-mech- Y anisms,

l of al resiliently-mounted anvil adapted to` yieldingly coperate withthe clenching mechanism to provide for clenching the ends of the legs ofthe staple thereagainst.

Y 3. In a stapling-machine, the combination with the staple driving andclenching-mechupon to yieldingly resist the pressure of the clenchingmechanism during the operationof clenehingA the ends of the legsthereagainst.

4. In a stapling-machine, the combination with means for driving thestaple through the Work, of Aan anvil arranged to engage the legs of thestaple to force them apart and maintain them in proper relation as theyprotrude through the material, andclenchermeans for bending the ends of'the legs of the staple around'the anvil.

5. Ina stapling-machine, the combination With means'for driving thestaple through the iWork, of a clenCher-plate arranged below the vWorkand formed With a staple-re'- 'ceiving' throat, a forming-anvil havingprongs projecting across the throat of theL clencher-plate to engage thelegs of the staple projecting through the Work, and

' clencher-Ineans coperating With the anvil to bend the ends of the legsof the` staple around its prongs.

6. In ay stapling-machine, the combination With means for driving thestaple through the Work, of an anvil arranged below. the Work and formedWith beveled sides adapted to engage the legs of the staple to guidethem through thematerialand hold them in position as they protrudetherefrom, and

clenchersformed with'inclined faces at their ends arrangedl to -coperatewith the beveled edges of the prongs. to bend the ends of the stapleagainst said beveled edges' to form upwardly projecting hooks.-

8. In a stapling-machine, the combination With means for driving 'thestaple through the Work, of a yieldinganvil arranged below Athe work toengage the legs of the' staple as they ,protrude vtherefrom, said anvilformed with' a body portion having a curved goose-neck provided atv itsend With prongs projecting into position to receive the legs of thestaple as they arebent therearou-nd, and clencher-meansfor clenching theends of the legs against thek under sides of the prongs.

9. An auxiliary Tforming-anvil vfor Vsta-- pling-machines, comprising avertically arranged plate-member bent rearwardly at its top and vthenforwardly in the vform of a gooseneck With horizontally-disposedprongmembers projecting forwardly therefrom.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

ARTHUR MAYNARD.

' Witnesses:

MINNIE BA. LooMrs, HARRY HACKNEY.l

